High Interest Day!

Spring Break begins Thursday, April 17-28!  Please continue to have your child read every day.  A Bingo sheet was sent home to encourage each student to continue practicing reading and math activities.  If a computer is available there are many reading and math programs such as, Achieve 3000, Razz Kids, Dreambox, and Discovery Education. 
Students will be taking the MAP tests when we return from vacation and we want their scores to reflect how much they have learned this year.  

High Interest Day was a complete success! 
Each student participated in 3 events in the morning.  Thanks to the many volunteers each session was packed with hands-on, fun-filled activities.  In the afternoon the students enjoyed the assembly presented by Kohl's Wild Theater which taught us about the ecosystem and how everything humans do has an impact on other animals and environments.

Hair Extensions added fun color!

                                     

A tornado was created in the Mr. Wizard session.

Painting Pottery was creative and fun!

Extra computer time is always enjoyable!

Karate Academy was hard work!

Fun With Fondant was yummy!

                                     

We learned our carbon footprints have an impact on animals
such as the polar bear and trumpeter swan.

We also learned that over-fishing can impact the penguins
in Antarctica. 

March 2014

March Comes In Like A Lion and Goes Out Like A Lamb!!



 *Please remember to dress for the weather.  We will hopefully be going outside for recess every day possible.  It is recommended that boots are worn every day in order for our feet to stay dry.  The playground will get very sloppy as the snow begins to melt!  Wear snow pants and mittens so we can still play in the snow.  Recess should be fun!!

 

**The March Challenge is RESPECT!  We are focusing on always showing respect to ourselves and the people around us. 

 

*Team Respect has begun a unit on how to become a Super Flex Hero!  Mrs. Willms introduced us to the 1st Unthinkable. Rock Brain, and taught us ways to fight him off.  The next Unthinkable we met was the Brain Eater!  We are learning to recognize when these distractors enter our brain and cause us to not focus anymore and how to prevent them from happening again.  Each week we will meet another Unthinkable!

 

MAP Testing is finished for the winter term!  The students made some amazing gains!  Please continue to read every night in order to continue to make great progress. 

 

Conference will be held on March 19.  You should have received an invitation if one is necessary at this time.  If you did not receive a notice and would like to meet and discuss your child's progress, please let me know and I will arrange a time.

 

 

 

January Update!

THANKS! - I need to thank all the parents for braving the cold and coming to visit the Wilson Health Fair on January 23.  We had a fabulous turn out!  There were many booths to visit in the gym that were staffed by people who shared a lot of valuable information and tips for staying healthy.  Also, students could participate in exercise and yoga sessions.  In our classroom we mixed up a healthy trail mix to snack on as the students shared all their inquiry projects.  They have been working so hard gathering information and collaborating with other students on a group project.  You can view these Scribble Press books any time by going online to the Wilson website and looking under the student tab where the health inquiry projects are listed.  Enjoy all the different grade levels!  The students also shared the health booklet they have been writing during writer's workshop.  Many students also shared other writing in their notebooks that they have started.
Our next min-inquiry will be about Famous People.

FYI - The winter MAPS testing sessions will begin the week of February 10.  This time the students will be using their iPads to take the test.  I'm sure they will do a fabulous job!!

Healthy Me Inquiry Project

The students in Mrs. Hart's and Mrs. Koehler's class have been working hard on a Healthy Me Inquiry project.  They were broken up into small groups of 3 based on their designated interest topic.  Then they used an app called Popplet to brainstorm ideas that related to their topic.  Mr. Kelly helped us set up and use a group Google Doc. to record all of the information we were learning.  This was really cool because each team member could work on the same document at the same time!  The final step was to make a book using Scribble Press.  The students had to turn all of the information into chapters and pages which included pictures.  This was a lot of hard work but the students did a great job, had fun, and learned a lot. 

Groups worked hard to design the pictures for their projects.

The ipads were very useful for gathering information.

Collaboration and teamwork were essential!

Library books helped us gather information too!

Designing the Scribble Press book was fun!

Each team member contributed to the end project!

Using the google doc allowed everyone to work on gathering
facts and note taking at the same time.

We enjoyed working together!!

December 2013

December 2013
               HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Have a healthy, relaxing, and fun vacation with your family.

READING:  The students in room 214 have been working hard on reading comprehension.  Our classroom won the Championship Achieve 3000 Belt.  This is awarded to the classroom with the highest percentage on the activity questions for the week.  The students took turns wearing it when they got 100% on their daily article.  Please encourage your child to read every day over the break.  They can access the Achieve website too if they have internet access.  They might even win a prize if their name is selected after reading 4 or more articles and completing the activity questions with 75% accuracy.  Happy Reading!!

MATH:  The 3rd graders are focusing on multiplication strategies.  Please help your child learn & memorize their multiplication facts by practicing with flash cards daily.  There are many math games on the internet too that focus on learning the facts.

Writing:  Our focus has been on informative writing.  The students are almost finished fixing up a piece about something they are an expert on.  They will then be writing about the inquiry topic, Healthy Me, that they have been investigating and researching.  You will be able to see the results of their hard work at the end of January.

The Achieve Belt!

Room 214 earned the Achieve Belt award for
scoring 75% on reading articles and activity questions.


 

Indoor recess can be tons of fun!!

Sometimes we play Scrabble.

We love to play Bingo!

We take turns playing Connect 4.

Chinese Checkers is just 1 game in this game cube.

We are getting very good at putting puzzles together.

We love to draw pictures.

It's also a great time to continue writing in our journals.

Please remember to dress warm because we go out every day except when the temperature drops below 10 degrees.
 

Mummy Wrap!

The November challenge was "The No Contact Challenge" which was to keep our hands and feet to ourselves at all times.  We did a great job especially in the hallways and lining up.  We reduced the referrals going to the office and were rewarded with a Pajama Bingo day complete with prizes. 

The mummy wrap was the bonus reward for turning in the reading minute sheets. 

Our December challenge is to reduce the referrals to the office that occur at recess time.  This is a whole school challenge and includes every recess!   Our goal is to play safe and have fun.  We can do it!!


Pajama Bingo and Mummy Wrap!

Mrs. Koehler was brave enough to get wrapped up like a mummy.

Everyone got a chance to wrap her up.

It's hard to recognize her.

 

Pajama Bingo with our buddies was lots of fun.

 

 

It was fun to see the winners fun by to get their prize in the office.